Imperial College MPH

Former MPH student Natasha Kassami wrtes about her MPH research project. "According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) currently constitute the largest share of deaths worldwide (38 million deaths each year) with nearly three quarters of these deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Among these, cancers constitute the second largest proportion of NCD deaths and it has been suggested that a disproportionate amount of this burden falls on women in these regions who face the challenge of gender inequality in addition to the lack of access to cancer care, which results from their geographical predisposition. It is fair to say that for a long time, I was relatively ignorant of the threat NCDs like cancer posed to low-resource populations. My attention was always drawn to infectious diseases like malaria, HIV/AIDS, TB, which have been the focus of public health campaigns in Uganda for many years. Needless to say I had suff

MPH and MSc in epidemiology students organise student-led seminars on Tuesday lunchtimes at St Mary’s. These seminars provide the students with the opportunity to share their expertise and experiences with one another and challenge some disciplinary perspectives outside of scheduled teaching hours. The sessions so far have covered fascinating topics spanning perspectives on communicable disease control strategies, reflections on field work and policy advocacy experiences and perspectives on different disciplines. The Tuesday lunchtime sessions could also be used to host talks from interested faculty on an innovative research or intervention idea, as well as research and career development opportunities.